While developer evangelist Nuno Silva is comfortable saying that “all actual devices will get upgrade to the next major version of Windows Phone,” Microsoft isn’t willing to go that far.

According to Ars Technica, Microsoft’s response to the developer evangelist quote from yesterday is vague at best. When the publication contacted Microsoft, it received this response from a Microsoft spokesman:

We have stated publicly that all apps in our Marketplace today will run on the next version of Windows Phone. Beyond that, we have nothing to share about future releases.

There’s no mention of any current phones or future phones. Microsoft will only commit to current apps running on Apollo. That doesn’t mesh with Silva’s statement, which he claimed Microsoft has already stated.

“no current Windows Phones will receive the Apollo update”

Microsoft says that there “could be some confusion” on the matter of phones receiving the update. Silva could have just been confused when he said that current phones will receive the update. Or, of course, the translation from Portuguese to English could have been incorrect as well.

According to The Verge, there is no confusion about current phones being forward compatible with Apollo. The publication cites an anonymous source that claims that no current Windows Phones will receive the Apollo update.

That includes phones from the first wave of devices like the HTC HD7 to the HTC Trophy, up to the latest Nokia Lumia 900.

If true, that could explain why Microsoft isn’t talking about Apollo just yet. Nobody wants to buy a phone that will be obsolete in just a few months. The idea of the Lumia 900, the phone that’s touted as one of the first “real” Windows Phones, not getting the update to the next version of Windows Phone is insane.

Hopefully Microsoft doesn’t leave current users out in the cold with Windows Phone 8. The current users are the ones who are comfortable with the platform’s lack of apps and limited specs. Windows Phone has some loyal users, and it wouldn’t make sense to force them to buy a new phone to get the latest version of their favorite mobile OS, especially with many signing two-year contracts for the Lumia 900.

Of course, even if Microsoft does bring Windows Phone 8 to current phones, the update will still need carrier approval. Microsoft has run into a few problems with carriers approving updates as of late, so it could be that Microsoft doesn’t want to promise something the carriers aren’t willing to deliver.

2 Comments

Scott Forbes

10/30/2012 at 5:14 pm

I have a Trophy and love the phone. A few months ago, we were being reassured that our phones would get the update. If not, I am ok buying a new phone if MS wants to subsidize it. Otherwise, I’ll be waiting a long while. I have my eyes on the Samsung Ativ S, but not until my contract comes up for renewal.